The Great Eclectic
by Majesta Moniet
Summary: DISCONTINUED. Ever since that fateful day when destiny stopped making sense, Usagi has found the shadows of an indefinite future to be unforgiving. Reborn into an age of supposed peace, she struggles to find her place.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: While I have a general idea of where I'd like this story to go, the plot hasn't been completely straightened out and is subject to change in the early stages. So if you have any bunnies you'd like to send my way, I'd be happy to consider them. And despite hintings in this first chapter, this is not a bashing fic.

The Great Eclectic

**Chapter One**

Usagi blew the bangs out of her face and continued to impatiently tap her two-inch pink heel against the glossy hardwood floors outside of the Preventers conference room. Her fortitude was waning and the insistent stare of the wrinkly day janitor who'd been cleaning the exact same window for the past 10 minutes she'd been standing outside the door was beginning to put her at disease.

"Just walk in and walk out. Be professional," she murmured to herself with a sigh. If only it were that easy.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, the door opened and a man clad in an expensive business suit exited, sparing her only a nod and a "pardon me" as he headed off down the hall. Groaning, Usagi glanced back at the janitor and slid into the room before the door shut.

Inside it was warm and crowded with Preventers sitting at tables lined from one side of the room to the other. At the far end of rotunda standing behind a raised podium was the ever-daunting Lady Une, and while Usagi didn't understand half of things coming out of the woman's mouth, she was certain that it was very crucial from the way all of the officers watched her with rapt attention: all except one.

Silently thanking the gods for making Duo such a slouch, Usagi quietly made her way to where he was slumped in his seat in the back row uninterestedly attempting to balance a pen on the end of his finger. Lady Une continued to drone on.

"Duo," Usagi whispered, "I have the files you needed…"

"Hey, Beautiful!" Duo perked up at the sight of her and straightened in his seat. Usagi winced and glanced around glad to find that only the persons sitting in the surrounding seats had seemed to notice Duo's outburst.

Sighing in relief, she placed the manila folder on the table in front of him atop the agenda he'd ripped to shreds in his bored state. "Well, if that's everything you need…"

As she turned to leave Duo effortlessly caught her wrist in his hands and gently tugged her up against his knees. "Hey, how are you doing, Babe?"

He was sincerely concerned. And noticing this as such a rare moment in which Duo ever managed to be serious, Usagi decided to reciprocate the gesture. "Terrible."

Duo sighed and took a moment to consider her response as he absently massaged the skin of her forearm. "It's rough on him too."

Usagi scoffed.

"Well, if the way he's glaring a hole into my head right now is any evidence, I'd say he isn't over you yet."

She tensed but couldn't bring herself to turn her head in the direction in which she was certain _he_ was standing. _He_ was exactly why she'd stood outside the door for ten minutes silently arguing over whether or not to come in at all. _He_ was the reason…He…

A knot began to form in her stomach.

"I should go." She straightened but Duo didn't release his hold on her.

"We'll talk later. You, me, and Bloody Mary: my most fantasized threesome," he teased with a seductive grin.

Usagi managed a small smile and turned to leave the conference room, acutely aware of Duo's eyes following her backside out the door.

The man sure did know how to be a friend.

By the time she made it back to her desk, Usagi's legs were trembling so violently she could hardly stand and readily collapsed into the inviting black leather chair. Head knocking against her desk with a resounding thud, she groaned and willed her watering eyes not to leak.

It was the first time she'd seen Heero since she'd left a week ago, well, not that she had actually 'seen' him just then, but she had done a decent job of avoiding his presence for the last seven days. This in itself was a considerable achievement as they worked for the same organization, in the same building, on the same floor of the same wing. But due to cat-like reflexes, well planned lunch breaks, and small miracles she had managed to steer clear of her ex. Not that he had made any attempt to seek her out.

The phone blared to life next to her left elbow. After briefly considering whether or not to answer it, she opted for the machine to pick up the message and allowed her head to sink back into the folds or her arms.

_"Hello, Miss Tsukino, it's Relena Darlian…"_

Usagi stiffened.

_"I've been trying to get a hold of Heero Yuy, and was wondering if you might have another number I could reach him at. If you do, just give my secretary a call at 327…"_

She picked up the receiver and promptly slammed it back on its base. The need to cry suddenly replaced with the need to scream, Usagi angrily scribbled a note claiming she was on her lunch break, stood with a huff, and marched to the elevator. As she waited for the metal doors to slide close, a small freckled face appeared on the other side.

"Ms. Tsukino! I f-found you. Um, Preventer Rawlings needs…needs you to type up this me-memo." He nervously flashed a sheet of paper covered in indecipherable scribbles.

Usagi smiled sweetly at the nervous man. "You'll just have to tell Preventer Rawlings that I'm going on my hour break, which despite what he may think, is not a working lunch and not an invitation to join me. And just because I've returned to work here, doesn't mean he should come near me. Ever, ever again. Bye now!"

The man opened his mouth just as the elevator doors closed with a charming 'ding.'


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I do not own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing and do not profit from the use of their content.

The Great Eclectic

_Chapter Two_

"I ran across Jimmy today after the meeting. He seemed nervous…more so than usual, anyway." Duo leaned back against the vinyl backing of the booth, mindlessly swirling a tall glass of alcohol in one hand.

Usagi had the decency to blush. "I might have snapped at him," she admitted," and I was a little sarcastic."

"You," he snorted, "sarcastic?" He took a drag of his beer. "Maybe its best you and Heero split when you did. In another month ya might've been glaring at puppy dogs and sleeping with multiple guns under your pillow."

Though not bothering to conceal her grimace at the mention of one of Heero's less desirable habits, Usagi couldn't help the nostalgia that bubbled in her chest as she longingly flicked through the memories of the last eight months. And despite not all of them being pleasant, she found herself craving those moments more and more.

* * *

"This is the desk where you'll be spending most of your time when you're not running errands or making copies."

Usagi peeked from behind the bustling woman to catch sight of an undersized wooden desk housing two drawers and topped with a small computer console. How quaint.

"Will I be…" Usagi was cut off as the woman swept along the corridor of desks to a wall lined with doors.

"These are the offices of Preventer Officers. Some already have their own personal assistants but for others you will act as their main secretary. All paperwork needing to be officially notarized will have to be sent to the administration building." The bulky woman led Usagi at a relentless pace through Preventer headquarters, always pointing with her pudgy finger but never stopping.

"And should I take those forms to the notary myself?" Usagi's mind was having trouble keeping up with her feet, as names and rules continued to flood from the woman's mouth like the water over Niagara falls. A headache was beginning to pound at the base of her scull.

"If you want to journey the mile of hallway and stairs between here and there, then by all means do so. If not, send a page," the woman deadpanned.

A loud yelp came from the other side of the room, and as Usagi turned to identify the source, her body impacted quite unexpectedly with another. She reeled backwards and glanced up just in time to catch a scowl grow across a handsome face.

"Watch where you're going." His voice was a deep monotone that caused her to wince.

"S-sorry."

He didn't look back.

"What a jerk," she muttered under her breath.

"No, that's Preventer Yuy," the woman explained as she straightened the glasses on her hooked nose. "It's best to avoid him altogether. You stay out of his way and he will stay out of yours."

That was the best advice the woman gave her all day.

* * *

Had it only been eight days since she moved out of their apartment? 'His apartment,' she mentally amended. It felt like weeks.

"I'll make sure to talk to Jimmy on Monday. I was a little riled when we met on the elevator." That was an understatement.

Seemingly sympathetic, Duo nodded comprehensively. "Your close-call with Heero at the assembly today?"

She ran a calming hand through her waist-length blonde hair. "No," she said not wanting to admit the man had such affect on her. "I got a message from Vice Foreign Minister Darlian."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Relena called you? At work?"

A nod and a sip of her Bloody Mary was the extent of her confirmation. Interest peeked, Duo lent closer and asked, "What'd she want?"

"A number to reach Heero at. Though I don't know why. It's not like she doesn't have access to all of the Preventers' contact information at her finger tips." Honestly she wasn't sure which possibility frustrated her more, that the woman responsible for her and Heero's split had the gull to call asking for help, or that Relena knew absolutely nothing about their relationship and therefore couldn't be held guilty for their breakup. If the former, it would be a lot easier to blame and therefore condemn the Vice Foreign Minister, and Usagi so desperately wanted someone to be held accountable, someone to be angry with. Relena was a painfully easy target in this situation.

"She has his number. He's just not answering." Duo finished off his first mug and waved down a waitress for his second. "Look, Relena's heart's in the right place but her efforts can be somewhat…overwhelming. Heero hasn't gone out of his way to contact her in over two years, and now that he's agreed to this new assignment as her security supervisor, she's holding onto him as tightly as her thin little arms can. She's afraid he'll disappear again, and she's probably right. You were the only thing keeping him around the Preventers for this long."

Usagi set her empty glass on the waitress's tray. "What do you mean 'disappear'? Why would Heero leave the Preventers? It's his job. His friends are here."

A rare pensive expression crossed Duo's features as he shook his head. "Heero was trained for more. The man gets restless."

She didn't understand. Trained? "I know that he's good at what he does, but…"

Too late. A new song had begun, and Duo was dragging her towards the dance floor.

"Time to boogie your troubles away!"

Two hours of dancing later, Usagi found herself slumped in the passenger seat of Duo's sports car, head pressed against the cool glass of the window as the soft hum of the engine lulled her into a peacefulness she hadn't felt in days. There slouched bonelessly against the leather seat that smelled distinctively of mint, she realized how completely exhausted she was. And it wasn't just a physical tiredness, it was emotional, spiritual and everything in between.

Having taken for granted the complete satisfaction she'd experienced with Heero, Usagi had forgotten how cumbersome it was pretending to be happy, to be okay. Because in those months she had spent with him simply being Usagi, a 19- year-old Preventers secretary who'd grown up in a foster home in the southern Sanq Kingdom, that was all she was, or ever had been. But now Usagi once against felt the weight of her past lives, and the restlessness that came with inactiveness. Above all the loneliness was already begin to pull at her spirits.

Tilting her head to stare at Duo's profile, Usagi suddenly felt the inclination to tell him everything. Duo was a good guy, a good friend. He was as good as anybody, better than most even. Why not tell him? She would feel so much better afterwards; she knew it.

From the Moon Kingdom to the battles as Sailor Moon, she wanted to pour it all out if only to release the pressure that was building up inside of her. He would know everything, her secrets…and she couldn't care less. The dangerous possibility caused an exhilaration to briefly inflate her mood, and she smiled slightly at the thought that she was about to share the one thing she'd kept from everyone, even Heero.

Her lips parted and he suddenly turned to her.

"Are you sure we're in the right neighborhood?" he asked skeptically as he slowed the car and looked out at the crumbling architecture of the tiny houses as they passed by. It was nearing one in the morning, and the darkness of the night did little to conceal the rundown cars lining the street or the overgrown grass creeping up rusted chain-link fences. Small groups of scraggily looking individuals clustered on the street corners, the glow of cigarettes the only source of light due to the broken street lamps.

The south side of New Port City was a small coffee stain on the fine white satin

tablecloth of the Sanc Kingdom: a stain too small to call for the entire linen to be washed when it could easily be covered with a silver candlestick.

"Yes. It's the apartments coming up on the left."

Duo reluctantly came to a stop across the street from the precariously tilting building and warily eyed the graffiti covered stairs and missing handrail leading up to a worn wooden door with the words "South C rcle Vil a" painted on with chipped gold paint. He didn't unlock the car doors.

They sat there with Duo staring at the apartments and Usagi mourning the passing of what could have been a defining moment of her current life. In those seconds of silence, the impulse to divulge her deepest secrets was lost, and she was left feeling somehow left behind, a sick child abandoned by her impatient friends.

When Duo didn't make any significant movement or say any departing words, Usagi took it upon herself to hit the automatic lock and pull on the door's sleek handle.

"Thank's, Duo, for the drive. It saved me taxi fair."

"You can't be serious."

"W-what?" She cleared her throat and warily eyed his form cast in the yellow of the overhead car light.

He turned his blue stare on her. "There's no way you live here, I mean…" He shook his head at the pitiful excuse for an apartment complex.

Usagi found herself too tired to be offended and merely shrugged. "It was all I could afford on such short notice, and its walking distance to work. Heero and I had split the rent at his place…" She stepped out onto the curb, careful to avoid a puddle from that morning's rain shower.

"Get back in the car."

A look at Duo's face was enough to confirm that he was completely serious, and Usagi tolerantly shook her head. "I live here," she said as if the claim automatically guaranteed her security.

Duo snorted in disbelief. "No, people don't live in places like this; they deal drugs, organize gangs, and run whore houses, and various other illegal operations. I'm amazed someone hasn't already shoved a gun in my face and tried to take my car in the past five minutes we've been sitting here!"

Had it been that long?

"Well it's _my_ home," she shot back, beginning to become testy. "You don't like it, you don't have to live here." She shut the door with a surplus of force, and for a brief moment she thought Duo was going to follow her as his hand shot to his own door handle. But he appeared to think better of it and stayed put, though not without muttering a rainbow of profanities beneath his breath.

His car was still parked outside when she closed the front door.


End file.
